I have decided to use my “Through the Bible in a year” effort to go through the Bible, and annotate ideas, themes, and symbols which may be of use to Christian songwriters.
CAUTION: These notes are meant to be used AFTER you have read the chapters (otherwise you won’t understand the references).
I pray that these ideas are of some use to you, especially in your song-writing!
In Christ’s Holy Name. Amen.
On a more professional note -Sorry, but I’m going to get a little rough with you…
How can you write Christian Songs if you haven’t read the stories, and motifs that Christianity are based on? (that should be a no-brainer, right?)
If you attempt to write ‘worship music’ without knowing the bible, the best you could hope for is something like:
“Rah! Rah! Sis-boom-bah!
God ( or Jesus) is sooooo great!*
Yayyy!
He’s gonna save us!
Cause I’m the one He loves!!! (feel the glow!)
Yayyy…”
(* some modern songwriters (should I cite the CWM industry?) don’t even include the word “God”, they just say “You” are soooo great…)
Well,
If that’s the best you can write, then I’m sorry, but
I cannot offer you a very ‘uplifting’ rating…
For scripture teaches us:
“Study to show thyself approved, a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
Please:
- Learn the stories.
- Look up the meanings of the words (use a concordance).
- Study the symbology, and most importantly:
- Study prophecy! (do you realize that the entire life of Christ was scripted out in the Old Testament? … yeah! (Luke 24:27, Hebrews 10:7) This is a gem of great price! Seek it out!)
- We are working with the most AMAZING STORY EVERY WRITTEN!
- Do what David did. Ask God:
“Open my eyes, that I might behold great things in your word!”
Then, share those things with your listeners! (Duh!) - finally,
Here is an interesting discussion about the CWM industry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSJzahLoOyw share this with your Pastor.
Day 1: Genesis 1- 3
through the bible in a year
Highlights
Jan 1, 2025
Gen ch.1
man… there is A LOT in this chapter
In it, we meet “The God of Life”, and the first hintings of the New testament:
The Bible is a Report. Did you know that? It is a report of God interacting with man. Any good report must begin with a statement of purpose, or direction. We find that in the opening lines:
1) The creation story is the story of salvation. The unformed Earth floating through the darkness of space represents ‘man without god’. The Holy spirit hovering above the waters represents the work He does to bring us to the point where God can say “Let there be light!”. Now, to understand the last part of this passage, you must hear the words of Christ: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
That is how God separates the light from the dark – within us. Note: This will become necessary after the fall…
2) 7 days of creation??? “The world” screams against this, but there is one teeny-tiny little problem. There are THREE evenings, and mornings BEFORE the sun and moon are created! That means that morning and evening were being measured someplace else. For instance, the Bible tell us that for God day ‘is like’ a thousand years (Ps 90:4, and 2 Pet 3:8). Where was this ‘other’ morning and evening? Some place beautiful, I assure you!
3) The whole chapter speaks of God as “the God of Life”. can you see that?
God makes tree, and birds, and cattle and crawling things, and says:
Behold – it is very good!
then He says: ‘be fruitful and multiply’
He is the God of Life, see?
4) vs 28: Dominion! The word used is a harsh word. It is the ‘trample underfoot’ kind of dominion. Does God want us to trample life underfoot? I don’t think so. The example I’ll use is the many mercies God shows throughout the Bible. God could easily trample us underfoot, but he doesn’t, and there is our role-model: Dominion with love.
5) We were meant to be vegetarians (Gen 1:30). There are a lot of health benefits to a vegetarian diet.
Ch 2:
again: another jam-packed chapter… (I’m trying to keep these short!)
1) God rested: Why did God rest? So that we could. God’s was the only ancient religion that required humans to rest every seven days. – this is a picture of mercy.
2) the earth was watered by mist: it never rained. Just like the Earth needs rain: our souls need rain too! (“There shall be showers of blessing… and old hymn.)
3) The breath ‘of life’, a ‘living’ soul… the text implies that man was given something special, something that the animals didn’t have. What we can derive from the text is that man was able to talk with (have conversations with) God. I do not see animals asking God questions, or entering into conversation with Him anywhere in scripture.
Note: you will never catch a monkey praying, or building a temple to a god…
4) The garden that Adam was placed in appears to be custom made – something separate from the rest of the Earth (but still on the Earth – the four rivers… see?)
5) What was man’s job? To dress and keep the garden. (I tend against certain forms of industrialism – personal preference.)
6) vs 17 – the warning – “the day you eat it you will die”
7) God creates Eve. “an appropriate helper”
8) God brings the woman to Adam. Now… how is it that Adam speaks of fathers and mothers here? Do they already exist (elswhere? outside the garden?) or is Adam Prophesying? The second doesn’t seem to be true, because when Christ recounts the prophets, He says “from Able to Zechariah” – Adam is not mentioned (Matthew 23:35).
Ch 3:
The fall – the saddest moment in human history!
1) vs 1-5 : The great debate! Here, we find the ‘modus operandi’ of Satan:
… mixing the truth with a lie. You will not die, but you will become as gods, knowing good and evil.
2) I don’t have to go into this next part – everybody on the planet has written about this – over an over!
3) there are two things of interest here:
a) God quits speaking to Adam – Adam is now “dead” to God. This happened on the same day that he ate the fruit. When he was “a living soul”, he could speak “with God”. As a dead soul, he cannot.
b) Adam names Eve AFTER they have been kicked out of the garden. I don’t know what that means. Up to this point, God named EVERYTHING – except – the animals. Remember? He brought the animals to Adam “to see what he would name them”. As a former technician, I know that after you build something you have to test it – to see if it doing what you designed it to do. God (in my opinion) brought the animals to Adam as a performance test of some kind. He was seeing how and if His creation was working.
See you tomorrow!
Day 2: Genesis 3-6
through the bible in a year
part 2
Gen 4 – there is so much in these chapters –
vs 7: sin lieth at the door, and unto ->you<- shall be ->HIS<- desire…Yikes!
Also notice that Cain is having a conversation with God:
I Cor 7:14 mentions that the Children of Believers are ‘holy’.
vs 11: A quick note to literalists:
The Bible speaks of “the four corners of the Earth”, right? That, along with certain other references, means (to literalists) that the earth is flat, and that there MUST BE four corners. There MUST BE! Right?
Well, okay… In Genesis 4:11, God says to Cain, that the Earth has opened up “her mouth” to recieve (Able’s) blood. sooo…
Literalists must now figure out how to make their flat, four cornered earth, into a feminine “her”, and give “her” A MOUTH, right? Where is that ‘mouth’?
What’s going on here, is that you are trying to use logic to ‘rightly divide’ ->spiritual language<-.
These stories came from God. What language does he speak? What is the grammar of God. We have listened to ourselves, and defined the ‘noun’, but what is a ‘noun’ in the spirit world? These are deep things, my brethren!
That is why God says: “lean not upon YOUR OWN understanding”, and “The GREEKS seek after wisdom…”, and that is also why God sent the Holy Spirit: To teach us “all things”… Think on these things. Pray about them. Wrestle with them; the same way that Abraham wrestled with the Angel.
please.
vs 13-15 Notice how God shows mercy. He warned Cain. Cain did it anyway. God then pronounced judgement, and Cain said: “This is more than I can bear”: So God put a mark on him – a mark of protection! Imagine that. Also… again, there is the mention of ‘others’… ???
vs 21: shouldn’t ‘organ’ be translated as reed instruments?
vs 22: Zilla (she) is a craftsman, and instructor of craftsmen!
vs. I love this: Seth means “is appointed”… how cool is that. How many prophecies is that so far? I’ve already lost track.
NOTE: spend a little time studying the various genealogies in Genesis… it will bear fruit.
vs 24 seventy and sevenfold … that is also how many times we are to forgive our brethren (Matt 18:21)
vs 26 Here, something changes: “then men began to call upon the name of the Lord”
Ch 5: The first place to start in the Genealogies is to look up the what the names mean in English. They each tell a story.
Ch 6: another jam-packed chapter!
vs 1:men multiply and “violence covered the earth”. Jesus said that he would not return until things are ‘as in the days of Noah’: there are rough times ahead.
vs 2: “the sons of God”… this group is mentioned eleven times in Scripture. It is an interesting study. Cap it off with the statement:
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
– the sons of God”. This is BIG, my friends!
vs 3: humans are no longer allowed multi-century lifespans. Also, this phrase has always stood out whenever I read it: “My spirit shall not always strive with man”. It is predictive, isn’t it?
vs 4: I think this verse implies that the “gods” of the ancient world were the fallen angels, presenting themselves to men for worship. Consider the ancient fables: Hercules was supposedly half man/half god. Jason was also, and there are others mentioned in the various mythologies around the world. Same story: same group. It all centers around the idea that God made women – too pretty?
One other thing: wherever these ‘gods’ appeared; civilizations sprang up (consult the archaeological record). I wonder what their goal was? I won’t speculate because the text does not support any further speculation. Keep that rule!
vs 5: every imagination of his heart was evil … continuously. Sound familiar? (just look around)
vs 6: I included part of this passage in one of my songs “Hey Mr. Smith”
note: there is an interesting dilemma here. Numbers 23:19 says “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent…” I’ll fix that when we get to The Book of Numbers. 🙂
vs 7 -22 Here, God has made a decision. Luckily for us: Noah found Grace in God’s eyes.
see ya tomorrow!
Day 3: Genesis 7-9
through the bible in a year
part 3
Genesis 6-9
There are two passages in the Bible which are the cause of great debate.
a) The Creation Story*
b) The Flood
Here is how I handle these issues:
IN ALL THINGS I WORK FROM AN ESTABLISHED POSITION:
I AM NOT ‘ANTI- ANYTHING; I AM ‘PRO’-CHRIST.
That means that as I collect information from various sources, I look to see how it might support the scriptural narrative. For example, researchers have discovered that the flood story has been passed down ALL OVER THE WORLD through tribes, and myths. In many of those stories, ->eight people survive in a boat!<- Really! Now, the Bible says “out of the mouths of two or three witnesses, let the truth be established”. So, if that many people remember it happening, and the details even line up, then you can certainly argue that SOME KIND OF WORLD-WIDE FLOOD seems to have happened, because all of the earth remembers it!
Man is currently exploring Mars. (stay with me now) If NASA found a structure like the Grand Canyon on Mars, they would declare to all mankind that they had solid proof of water on Mars. They might even claim that the canyon looked like the drainage of a vast plateau of water! But here on Earth – because it might support the Bible – they claim that the little tiny Colorado river carved out that gigantic canyon, all by itself.
Now… “Never argue with an stubborn person!”. If a man (or woman) is bound and determined to take a stand, and argue till the end of time – that he or she is right – wish them peace and let them go. Put them in God’s hands and walk away. Okay? Arguing with such a person is pointless – you are just going to bat the same ideas back and forth – for nothing!
There is other evidence of the flood, I suggest you go looking for it. It’s even on youtube! Generally speaking: On youtube; you will find what your looking for – that’s the algorithm.
Next: “all the animals” is another point of contention. Here is my answer:
Man has domesticated the wolf, a 75 pound (30+ kilo) animal, and the wolf has lived with us for a few thousand years. In those few thousand years, we have bred – out of the wolf – everything from the teacup poodle, to the great dane; mastiffs, dachshunds, and dogs of all kinds. If they could change that much in a few thousand years, so could the ‘kinds’, that Noah brought onto the ark. Those animals left the ark to a wide open world, and went wherever they wanted, and became whatever they needed to be to ‘fit’ into that part of the world. That is what ‘survival of the fittest’ means.
Finally, these are sort of ‘test points’. Statements that can allow the listener to relax his stance, and and allow him to reconsider some of the things he has been taught.
Outside of that, there are other interesting details in this story:
1) It had never rained before
2) Noah may have been wealthy – this boat was a gigantic project!
3) The bow in they sky is a ‘reminder’. In the old days, to remember some odd thing, you would tie a string around your finger. That was so odd -that youl’d remember!
That is what the rainbow is – an odd thing that reminds God of His promise. (Gen 9: 12-13)
4) Interestingly, we see God lighten His stance – ” I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth”
… did you see that? God says: “for the imagination of his heart IS evil from his youth”. He seems accepting! Like a loving, patient parent.
5) God does something else interesting: He promises the seasons will continue (Gen 8:22). That implies that they are under His control. Remember that!
That’s all for today. Like I said: “I’m trying to keep these short!”
Peace
* (NASA has spent a trillion or more dollars trying to disprove creation story. It is in their mission statement: they are looking for life outside of the earth. What a waste of resources! China is looking for minerals – hello!)
through the bible in a year
part 004
Gen 10-12
Ch 10
the genealogies are the most difficult part of Genesis. It stops a lot of readers – cold.
Let’s see if I can stir up some interest here.
First of all, this genealogy, is divided into two sections.
a) who the descendants of Noah were
b) where their children migrated to
look at what verse 5 says:
“By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.”
Then it goes on to list all of the people whom the Israelites would later encounter in the promised land:
The Jebusites, the Hittites, & etc.
We read of Nineveh, of Sodom and Gomorrah, and this curios figure “Nimrod”, the mighty hunter.
The other interesting statement: in Peleg’s day – the earth divided. Continental drift?
It takes a bit of work, but there is a lot in this chapter.
Ch 11
As I mentioned building civilizations earlier. Here we see God directly interfere in the process. He stops them because “nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”(vs 6) and he ‘overflows’ their languages (verse 9: “it is called ‘Babel’ (confusion) because God ‘confounded’ (overflowed) the language”), causing them to abandon the tower, and scattering them over the face of the Earth.
As a historical note: King Nebudchadnezzar (of Babylon) claimed to have found the remains of the tower, all those thousands of years later, and rebuilt it!
Here is one (of many) references to that:
https://armstronginstitute.org/125-nebuchadnezzars-tower-of-babel
Now the genealogies continue. There is a clear difference here: The first geneaology state that men lived 150 to 170 years before they bore children. Now they are bearing them at 35, 65, 90 – much earlier than before the flood. Human biology is changing.
This chapter ends with the birth of Abram (“Great Father”), and it points out that his wife Sarai (her name is derived from ‘head person’).
Ch 12
in ch 11, vs 32 we see that Abram’s father left Ur, to go to the land of Canaan. In ch 12, God tells Abram to continue that journey, and tells Abram how it will turn out: “in you I will bless all the families of the Earth” – Wow! Do you know why? It’s because Christ will come through his bloodline – this becomes an ongoing theme in Genesis, and indeed much of the old testament. This theme is centered around the question of who this blessing will be passed on to.
Historical note: These people were not savages. Ur has been excavated, and except for building materials, and modern conveniences, you would have felt at home in that city. Two story houses, big yards. Indoor facilities, wide streets. Such wealth of the average man would not occur again until thousands of years later.
Now we see Abram instruct his wife to lie and say “I am his sister” because he was afraid he would be killed over her. Man never changes. Jealousy and desire still cause murders to this day! Apparently, his wife was so pretty that Pharaoh himself got interested in her. To compensate her ‘brother’, Pharaoh gave Abram a kings gifting of herd animals, and camels. A prize he was allowed to leave with when the lie was discovered.
Also, notice this idea; there was trouble in Pharaohs household because of Sarai. Think about this: it means something.
see ya tomorrow!
through the bible in a year
part 005
Gen 13-15
One of the characteristics of Biblical stories is that it can be hard to tell the ‘good guys’ from the ‘bad guys’. For example, Abram, out of fear, just finished asking his wife to lie for him, and Pharaoh got in trouble for it. Imagine God’s position. We look at ourselves, and wonder if we are good or bad. We ask God for help, but it is usually help in overcoming something or someone. Imagine God trying to help EVERYONE overcome EVERYONE ELSE.
It doesn’t work; does it?
This is why God created ‘the renewing of the mind'(Rom 12). We are to forsake our ways, as Abram forsook his homeland, and go in search of something that God promises. Those who do will prosper within; those who don’t are condemned to wanderings, and strife. I’ve been there: I don’t recommend it.
[Strife is derived from “strive”. Strive is from an old German (Teutonic) word meaning: 1) to make effort, 2) to struggle, or finally 3) to contend or vie]
As we read through the Old Testament, we can discover layers of ourselves in these stories. I think that when we discover these ‘layers’, we should go to the Lord and … ‘inquire’.
Chapter 13
vs 1: Abram keeps moving along…
vs 2: Are the rich ‘bad’? Notice that Abram was ‘very’ rich. God doesn’t care how much money you have: he cares about how thou think, and what that leads to.
vs 3: Abram camped in a very interesting place: “between Beh-el, and Hai*” (can be pronounced “HAY – EYE”)
Beth-el translates to “God’s House”
Hai translates to “ruin”
… He camped between God’s House, and Ruin.
VS 4: Pop quiz: Altar? What Altar? Where was it built? (answer in: ch 12)
vs 5: Abram and Lot had so many animals, that it prohibited co-habitation (dwelling together).
Something had to be done
Lot chooses the best for himself, and then…
vs 12: “and he (Lot) pitched his tent toward Sodom”
~ pitched his tent “toward” ~
That does that mean?
Arab Tents had a large entryway: It was like a big picture window. Pitching your tent ‘toward’ something means setting it up so that the doorway ‘faces’ something; it is symbolic of where the person in the tent (really) wants to go. Lot eventually ends up living in Sodom…
So – Where you point your tent reveals an underlying choice.
Q: What does that have to do with me? I don’t live in a tent.
A: Our video screens are the doorways to the “tents” inside our minds.
– write a song about that!
vs 13: Israel today is a fairly dry place. Here we discover that it was once covered in lush vegetation – before _ (fill in the blank)
vs 14-17: In contrast, what is Abram seeking? What is his outcome going to be?
vs 18: between Mamre (vigor), and Hebron (social network): That’s where Abram went.
Ch 14:
vs 1-12 Kings fighting. Alliances joining in. Rebellions, revenge… The way of the world, right?
James 4:2 says: “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not”
by the way… When Sodom fell, Lot was among the captives!
vs 13- Abram had made friends too. Their names translate as: Prominent (or important), Grape Clusters, and Boy. – really!
They all get together and rescue Lot.
vs 14: The name “HEBREW” comes from the name “Eber”.
In Gen ch 10: Shem > Arphaxad > Salah > “Eber”. Where ‘>’ means “Had a son named…”
The Jewish people are therefore the descendents of Shem. – there’s a good trivia question!
Also: Abram had 318 servants trained (in warfare). Three Hundred and Eighteen!
He pursues Lot’s captors to Hobah (hidden), which is ‘to the left of’ Damascus (probably means ‘prominence’, or ‘stands out’. Note: Damascus is in an elevated area)
vs 17: “Melchizedek king of Salem”
a very mysterious character.
His name translates “King of righteousness”, he is from Salem (literally Shalom – a city named “peace”), he is described as a high priest of God (Our God), and…
Abram gave him 1/10 of all that he won in the war (the first tithe). And… look what Melchizedek shows up with: Bread and Wine.
Do you see any symbols here? I hope so…
The king of righteousness, from the city of peace, [comes out after the war – with bread and wine]*, and receives 1/10 of what is won.
* see Matthew 26:29
vs 14-22 Why did Abram say, I will not take even the tiniest thing that is yours, lest (“just in case”) you say that you made me rich?
Gen 13:13 tells us
“But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.”
Abram does not want to give the wicked as chance to say “I made you who you are today!”
(see II Corinthians 6:14)
chapter 15:
this chapter is in two parts
1) Who will be my heir?
2) The vision.
Here, we find the famous verse:
“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.”
Compare (verse 7 to Romans chapter 4: Paul goes into great detail about this.)
vs 1: AFTER these things – God makes a promise. hmmmm…
vs 2: Abram asks God who will be his heir. Remeber – Abram means ‘great father’, and so the symbol here is: the great father had no children, so he asked God
“What wilt thou give me?” note his steward name: Eliezer – it means ‘God of help’.1
so “the word of the Lord came to him, saying” (this only happens to prophets!)
Look at the stars: see if you can count them (that is a good lyric – right there!)
So Abram asks: How can I be sure?
THE RITUAL: these animals are used over and over again in The Bible: they have deep meanings!
A heifer (female cow), she goat, ram (male goat), turtle dove (gender and age – not specified), and a young pidgeon
In Leviticus, these animals are sacrificed for specific sins.
The ancient Arab tradition was that an solemn covenant was made by cutting an animal in half, and passing between the two parts.
Here: five animals are cut in half – that is a super strong covenant!
“an horror of great darkness” – yikes!
A smoking furnace and burning lamp…
Here Abram finds out -from God – the timeline of his descendants.
they return to the promised land after four generations (that would be Jacobs sons) – that happend (check that one off!)
They will suffer in another land (Egypt) for four hundred years – that happened (check that off too!)
I ave tried to find a link between Israels time in Egypt, and the dark ages… 400 years in Egypt/ 500 years of the dark ages…
it doesn’t quite match up.
This is a jam-packed chapter – worthy of musical study.
that’s all for now,
See ya tomorrow!
through the bible in a year
part 6
Gen 16 -18
chapter 16 Abram is 86 years old…
vs 1: hagar? 1) no translation 2) Egyptian
vs 2: again – the husband listens to the wife… Watch what happens.
vs 3: Here’s what happens: Hagar conceives. She gets haughty about it. Sarai complains – Abram says “do what you want.”
-> Sarai’s harsh treatment causes Hagar to flee.
Interesting phrase: “May the Lord judge between me and thee”
vs 7: “The Angel of the Lord” is mentioned over and over. Scholars like to claim that he is Christ.
they use vs 13 to justify their claim. As a result, we have this word:
pre-incarnate (it means : before he had flesh)
“He (the Angel) met her (Hagar) by a fountain of water in the wilderness.” and asked Where are you going?
vs 8: The angel tells her to go home, and then promises great things for the son.
note: “He shall dwell in the presence of his brethren” could be translated “he will dwell with those like him”. I prefer this translation because: he has no brethren!
The angel tells her to name her son “Ishmael” : “God has heard”
Names: the well : “well of living” nearby town : Kadesh (sanctuary) Bered (unknown translation)
God is going to also name the son of promise…
Is he setting something up with these names?
chapter 17
vs 1: Abram is 99 years old “and the Lord appeared to him” and said “walk before me and be perfect.”
what is the response to something like this?
– ABRAM ‘FELL ON HIS FACE’ – that is he bowed until his face touched the ground.
vs 2-8 That would make a great song!
vs 9 circumcision: notice this is a male-only ritual
Here, circumcision is prophetic:
it is pointing to the day when our heart and spirit are circumcised
when circumcision (the mark of gods people) is within.
This is idea leads to the new testament teaching:”But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Rom 8:9
God re-names both Abram and Sarai
Abram (great father) becomes Abraham (father of multitudes)
Sarai (important) becomes Sarah (mistress in the sense of : noble-lady, princess or queen)
vs 16: God promises to make Sarah a mother of nations, and that kings will come from her.
vs 17: Abraham fell on his face laughing!
vs 18: God says: okay… you will name your son Isaac (He laughs)
vs 19-21 God again blesses “God has heard” (Ishmael), but states clearly:
His covenant will be in “he laughs” (Isaac)
see ya tomorrow!